The first couple minutes of the class 1A, area 5 game between the Keith Bears and Ellwood Christian Eagles, turnovers hurt both teams. Once the Bears finally got a handle on the ball, they never let it go.

No. 3 Keith (11-4) defeated Ellwood Christian (2-5) 62-29 Thursday at Ellwood, led once again led by John Pettway, who scored 22 points. Ja’Mel Phillips scored 11 points for the Eagles, who tried to keep it close early on, but struggled to keep pace with Keith, who is now 2-0 in the area.

“I’m actually proud of the effort to come and get a win,” said Keith head coach Tommy Tisdale.

“Regardless of the score, we just wanted to get a win no matter how we got it.”

Both teams came out with a loose handle on the ball, but Justyn Pettway took control by stealing the ball at one end and laying it in for an open two-point score on the other end to take a 5-0 lead.

John followed it up with a steal of his own and a dunk to put Keith ahead 7-0.

Ellwood’s Anthony Woods gave the Eagles their first points of the game with 4:36 left in the first quarter with a layup. Phillips connected on a three-point play shortly after, but Ellwood still trailed 12-5.

A 10-point Eagles deficit only increased in the second quarter, as Justyn and Dalven Johnson got heavily involved in the scoring. Justyn scored eight second quarter points, while Johnson pulled down plenty of rebounds and had a few strong putbacks to tally six second quarter points.

Keith led 31-16 at halftime, and Morris Collins ensured Ellwood wasn’t going to mount an improbable comeback.

Plagued by foul trouble in the first half, Collins returned in the second half to put eight points on the board, further extending the Keith lead.

Keith’s Domonique Jones didn’t score, but he played valuable minutes, just a few games returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the last game of the football season and the first part of the basketball season.

“He’s going to play hard, physical, strong. I love to see him on the court,” Tisdale said.

Ellwood head coach Darrell Walker is already looking for Ellwood’s next opportunity to upset Keith.

“We live to fight another day and we saw Keith,” Walker said. “We’ll be ready when we go down there on the fifth of January.”

Keith 85, Ellwood Christian 17 (girls)

In a matchup of the No. 1 team in the class 1A against a team just trying to find a way to win, it was clear the final score was going to be lopsided when the Keith Bears came to face the Ellwood Christian Eagles.

Keith (12-1) easily dispatched Ellwood (0-7) 85-17 Thursday night at Ellwood. The Bears were led by Shatavia Moore, who scored all 24 of her points in the first half. Zykia Pettway added 15 first-half points and Harriet Winchester drained three 3-pointers.

“I knew it was going to be a tough test going against a top team, but they gave effort and that’s all I want from them,” said Ellwood head coach James Spears.

There wasn’t much scoring throughout the game for Ellwood, but Arianna Withers still knocked down two 3-pointers in the first quarter.

Shakeria White also hit two 3-pointers, which were the only points for Ellwood in the second half.

“They rebounded well and played good defense, but they were just overpowered with the talent that they’ve got and the team that they’ve got,” Spears said.

Keith was ahead 67-11 at halftime, giving the Bears a chance to rest their starters and give less experienced players a chance to get more playing time.

Keith head coach Cecil Williams said Erica Smiley stood out to him in the second half. She pulled down plenty of rebounds and added four points to a half where scoring was hard to come by for both teams.

Williams said that extra playing time for his bench players could be of value down the road for the reigning state champions.

“Somewhere down the road, we’re probably going to need them to step up and help us out so the more experience they get now, the more it will help us out,” Williams said.

Keith’s boys and girls teams return to action Monday at the Dallas County Classic at Wallace Community College-Selma. The other teams in attendance will be Selma, Southside and Dallas County.